Obama: 'Strong belief' Russia violated international law

President Barack Obama challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin’s defense of his involvement in Ukraine, arguing Tuesday that there is widespread consensus that Russia is violating international law and urging Putin to agree to talks to de-escalate the situation.

“There is a strong belief that Russia’s action is violating international law,” Obama said at an elementary school in the District of Columbia after introducing his proposed 2015 budget. “President Putin seems to have a different set of lawyers making a different set of interpretations. I don’t think that’s fooling anybody.”

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Though some have said that Putin’s actions are “clever strategically,” Obama said he regards them not as a “sign of strength” but as “a reflection that countries near Russia have a deep concern and suspicion of this kind of meddling.”

“If anything,” he added, “it will push many countries further away from Russia. There is the ability for the Ukraine to be a friend of the west and a friend of Russia’s as long as none of us are inside of decisions that properly belong to the Ukrainian people.”

The United States, he made clear, stands for the “principle that a sovereign people, an independent people, are able to make their own decisions about their own lives” and while “Mr. Putin can throw a lot of words out there…the facts on the ground indicate he is not abiding by that principle.”

Obama spoke as Secretary of State John Kerry, in Kiev, addressed reporters following a day of meetings with Ukrainian leaders there. “It is diplomacy and respect for sovereignty, not unilateral force, that can best solve disputes like this in the 21st century,” Kerry said.

Moving forward, Obama and Kerry both said, the United States and its partners hope to see Putin agree to a diplomatic process that would likely include the Kremlin working directly with the Ukrainian government.

If Russia does not choose to de-escalate and to work through diplomatic channels there will be no choice but for the United States and its partners “to expand upon steps we have taken in recent days in order to isolate Russia politically, diplomatically and economically,” Kerry said.

Kerry accused Putin and other Russian officials of pushing “falsehoods, intimidation and provocations” to justify their position and countered with a list of facts that the international community know to be true, including that Russian troops are in Crimea.

White House press secretary Jay Carney also challenged the veracity of Russia’s statements, telling reporters: “It is patently clear that the things Russian officials are saying are happening in Ukraine are not happening.”